Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
The decor changed yet again on the next floor, creating a starkly different feel. The colors were all blues and grays with swirls of white and yellow. It was as if we were walking through a painting of the Milky Way. The lighting was dimmer here, and I depended on Nylian’s sharp vision to spot guards. Paintings hung on the walls at regular intervals, but they were all of women in everything from elegant gowns to shining armor on the backs of white steeds. These were the queens who were likely to be considered the heart of the kingdom of Galinaes.
After seeing the two sides of the married royals, I now ached to walk through the halls of Wolfrest’s royal castle. Would there be this strange dichotomy as well, or would the entire castle favor the king?
“Where are the prince and his pet?”
I jumped and twisted around at the sudden intrusion of the queen’s voice as it bounced cold and hard off the marble walls.
“The servant following them stated they were in his private quarters, Your Majesty.” The assistant cleared his throat. “Judging by the noises coming from the other side of the door, we believe they should be occupied for the rest of the evening.”
My mouth fell open on a silent gasp as I turned toward the speaker. His voice grew louder as the queen and her companion came up the stairs behind us. Nylian slapped his hand over my mouth to keep me from giving away our position. With a fistful of my shirt, he dragged me away from the upper railing and into the shadows of the queen’s private floor.
I could still hear Sumina’s derisive snort. “Like anyone believed he wasn’t fucking that human.”
That bitch!
Thankfully, Nylian kept a firm hold on me, stopping me from giving her a piece of my mind. The sexy elf prince wasn’t fucking me. I suspected that he very much wanted to, though.
Besides, her icy self was probably jealous that she didn’t have someone as sexy, brilliant, and caring in her life.
I was still telling Sumina off in my head when Nylian pulled aside a thick, dark-navy velvet curtain and shoved me inside a shallow alcove. As the curtain closed behind Nylian, I glimpsed a broom, a bucket, and some cloths that were likely for cleaning. This was a niche to storing servants’ cleaning supplies away from the sight of the queen and anyone coming to petition her.
Sigh. We were in a fancy broom closet.
“Has there been any news from General Luvon?” Sumina demanded, her voice growing louder as they approached our hiding spot.
“Nothing yet, I’m afraid,” her assistant answered. “Are you sure this isn’t the doing of the Edros royal family? There have been plenty of whispers about that prince hating Wolfrest and wanting to seize the farmland they’d lost to the elves centuries ago.”
The dismissive sound from the queen dripped disdain. “The humans of Edros are useless. If they had any chance of doing something effective against Wolfrest, they wouldn’t have lost that section of land in the first place.”
I stiffened, my breath trapped in my lungs. It sounded like they were standing right outside of the curtain. My heart hammered, and I prayed they wouldn’t hear it. Elves were supposed to have heightened senses compared to humans, but not that good, right?
“Lockeheim is the only country with a long and lurid history in the cultivation of poisons. Someone got them involved in this matter.” She sounded thoughtful for a second before the hard soles of her shoes clacked on the floor again, moving away from us. “Send another messenger south to Luvon. I want to know who poisoned the Wolfrest prince. In the meantime, have the servants continue to watch Prince Xeran’s movements and make sure he stays happy. While we’re a step behind someone else in destroying Wolfrest, we can still use the prince as leverage. If he causes problems, grab his pet and lock him up. Maybe even cut off a body part to show Xeran he needs to take this more seriously.”
Oh, we were getting the fuck out of Ulmenor. I wouldn’t let anyone slice bits and pieces off me.
Nylian also seemed less than thrilled with the queen’s plans. His hands tightened on me and his body shifted so that more of him was standing in front of me, as if he meant to act as a fleshy shield. Nope, not happening. We were getting the fuck out of Dodge.
As their voices grew softer and more distant, Nylian prodded the curtain aside a sliver to peek out into the corridor. My heart raced as Nylian seized my wrist and pulled me into the hall. We hurried as quickly and quietly as we could across the floor to the stairs.
Unfortunately, the heel of my boot caught on the edge of one stair. I plunged forward, hitting Nylian hard in the back. The elf caught himself to stop us from tumbling down the stairs, but it meant he was forced to slap his hand against the wall to halt our momentum. We froze, our breaths trapped in our lungs as we strained to hear if Sumina or her assistant had heard that.